Friday, August 20, 2010

Historians, archaeologists, and all the other historical research people always come out with one similar notion about history; that towards the end of a particular era, the civilisation or types of creatures inhabiting a particular period, would be at its most glorious and beauty. They said that about Pompeii, Troy, Rome, Hitler and his Third Reich, and even during the dinosaur age. Could it have been true, perhaps. that this notion of greatness is also the main reason for it to fall? Atlantis was believed to be well beyond even our present state-of-the-art technology (or so as depicted in many a story and remarks) when it literally sunk. Hitler came out with the best and also the first jet-powered fighter, tank, artillery and still lost the war.

What about dinosaurs, the gargantuan creatures we are all still mystified with even today? Dinosaurs lacked brains (or so as scientists claimed), but what they lacked in brains they compensated with muscle and brawn. The tyrannosaurus rex, mastodon, pterodactyl and the brontosaurus are all legends in this field. Some believed that whatever their strengths, ultimately their ignorance or arrogance caused their downfall when a mammoth meteorite struck the earth millions of years ago to end their reign.

In this modern age, we can foresee many a thing coming, meteorites and stuff can be detected years away and maybe provide mankind with a glimmer of hope of avoiding the same fate of the dino-no-mino (dinosaurs with no mind). But even amongst mortal men, there are those who believed they have the right to immortality, that they would ascend the thrones of Asgard and Olympus to claim Goddism (if there exist such a word) as their own.

We might be mistaken if we believe that such a person might be either insane or not so much as worth our eyebrow's worth. But in a country like Malaysia, these Godivas (no relation to the fine chocolate namesake) exist literally in almost all aspects of our lives. They are the political masters and servants who are at present running this country and believe themselves to be gods, above man and definitely above all Malaysians.

Got it yet? Yes, we are talking about the ruling coalition that has been in power since their so-called democracy cry outbreak in 1946. Three in particular, Umno, MCA and MIC, have been household names shrinking even the dino-no-monos of late; and as stated many a time in history; are at their best (or worse) prior to their unfortunate extinction.

Let's talk the minors first. MIC has been led by one person over the last three decades or so; crushing any opposition to his own godly rule of law. Historians might pick Malaysia as a good place to study the secret of political longevity. To the MIC it is very simple – appoint only those who will die for you and politically 'kill' anyone who opposes you (no relation to the Altantuya-gate saga). We have seen many deputy presidents come and go, but the chief Kukuana still remains the same man. Despite many a rebellion, including the latest started by the Youth wing (oops, my mistake – former youth wing); the president still looks as invincible as Odin.

But has the MIC grassroots got to say about this? Not much we can presume, judging by the simplicity with which such rebellions are quashed. Maybe its just a coincidence that most MIC members allegedly are too scared to voice out their dissent, or that they too believe their leader to be a god. But the MIC has so far still failed to uplift the standards of living of the very poor Indians.

We are not denying there are rich ones, but the poor are getting too many as compared with the rest of them. MIC has also yet to clear its name of alleged graft and mismanagement of its Maika holdings, its investment arm which allegedly lost billions over the years. And honestly, Malaysians, too, are wondering if the MIC is aware the Indian community is beginning to dig its own moat to keep them out.

Then there's the MCA, who before the Team A – Team B war, seemed more like a Chinese triad society than what it is today. One new president came in, looked lost and another took his place. This president was hell-bent on revenge and the result is the present PKFZ fiasco, where one of its former chiefs have been charged in court. Now a new president, who seems to be no better than Anwar Ibrahim (save that he purportedly was recorded having a go with his manhood with a girl).

Malaysians are puzzled as to why Anwar is charged in court over an allegation made by someone claiming to be one of his 'victims' whilst the MCA president is free to continue with his manhood escapades even though he was caught on camera doing it.

All this could not have fallen on deaf ears or the blind only. The 12th general election results and many a by-election thereafter clearly indicated the Chinese vote has gone south, and the MCA, it seems, has ceased to be a relevant force to be reckoned with. Yet, the arrogance of its leadership in claiming it is gaining ground on Chinese support might be due to their ignorance of this fact, but we can also deduce it is also due to their arrogance of the fact that they belong among the gods.

And then the masterpiece, or the major league – Umno. Strange that for a Malay-based party claiming to be fighting for all Malaysians, it has so far proved otherwise. If Umno is truly Malaysian, then we don't need the MCA, MIC or the other allies in BN to exist; Umno can do it for all of them. But so far, we can only hear muted cries of equality across the board from Umno.

Instead, we hear warnings and war cries every time the subject is brought up. Add to that, it is now embroiled in its own battle to exorcise ghosts that have been haunting the party of late.

The leadership tussles and the hogwash promises are still Umno's trademark. Its leaders are behaving like any other dictator under siege by surrounding themselves with boot polishers that only know how to shine their boss's boots but nothing else. They make huge calls to the people, provide catchy tunes and names for their visions but at the end of the day, they pass the baton for achieving that vision to the shoeshine boys.

And due to that, the policies that come out from cabinet meetings are nothing but shoe polish; only meant to reward or pacify a certain group or groups of people, without scant regard for the people nor the outcome of the visionary remarks. Thus, the new management motto is fast becoming decadent similar to that of the previous prime minister's. And the people are still confused to what it truly meant for them.

Coupled with that, the reports of the return (it never went away anyway) of money politics are punching holes through the president's claim that Umno is on a self-cleansing mission. A truly lumbering dinosaur this Umno is. Money politics can never truly be distant when it comes to political parties, anywhere in the world. They might use different guises, but bills for rallies and functions have to be paid from somewhere. Even bills to buy votes as evidenced by a recent newspaper report of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission's probe into an ex-MP's alleged vote buying to get on bus to the next general assembly needs to be paid by someone.

But the way in which Umno has equated that with its legal and rightful status as a god to all Malays is laughable at the very least. Umno might have not evolved into a better party than it was in 1946, but it certainly embraced the new age technology and for a different purpose. Anybody visiting blogs to view what the chatter is up to nowadays would come across a blog dedicated to the arguments about Umno on money politics. Not eradicating it, but simply put it, defending it and rationalising it.

An argument posted recently even claimed that money politics is necessary and important for Umno, and that there are people out there - Umnoputras - who are jealous of their chosen god and wish to see this person crucified for money politics.

As we ponder on the maturity age of the chatterers and what they have been discussing, we should therefore ask this simple question – if the allegations as reported and confirmed by the MACC are false, then why haven't the people who are defending their god made a counter report for the matter to be resolved and this person's name exhumed and cleansed? Who made the report in the first place is still under wraps by the MACC. If the Godiva defenders are so sure of their god's purity, why not denounce the whistle-blowers and expose their evil intent?

This is indeed an intriguing time at the end of the Umno-led dinosaur age. Whilst many pointers are directing at their exit in the next elections, past general elections results have shown otherwise. The meteorite that was supposed to hit BN in 1999 and 2008 didn't come in full force, it only destroyed certain parts of Umno-land, but not without hard effort and still they are problematic to the new governments ruling the states lost.

Thus is it true that in all Malays, there still exist this Godiva-like fear that if Umno loses, then the Malay cause will fall apart. Are Malays still the one deflecting the imminent meteorite from hitting the PWTC head-on and thus thankfully bringing an end to dinosaur days?

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Dinosaurs Fossils

Dinosaur fossils have been known about for millennia, though their true nature was not recognized; the Chinese considered them to be dragon bones, while Europeans believed them to be the remains of giants and other creatures killed by the Great Flood.